You Don't Wake Up From This
by Catching the Lexicon
Summary: He had a family. A wife named Idris. Now he has a hospital bed and the best and worst dream in the world.


**A/N:** So, just so you know, I decided to not make the dialogue exact because most of that takes place inside his head too. Prompt from iampizzalocked on Tumblr. I don't own Doctor Who.

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This was the first time Rose Tyler had been woken in the middle of the night by somebody from work. She bolted upright, twisted herself in the sheets, fumbled simultaneously for the phone and the lamp switch, and nearly fell out of bed.

"Ah- hello, um, Dr. Tyler here."

"Yes, Ms. Tyler, this is Dr. Smith." Rose's heart jumped into her throat. That was Dr. Mickey Smith calling her! Calling _her_. _Don't be stupid Rose, there's a problem at work, obviously_. Angry with herself, she stuttered out a reply.

"Yes, um, so, what can I do for you, Doctor?"

"Well, I wouldn't normally call you at this time, seeing as you're a psychiatrist, but... well, we've got a strange case here. A neighbor heard shots, called 999. The police and paramedics found 3 dead, and one alive. No idea who the killer was yet, although it's not as though the police'll tell the medics if we don't ask." He sighed. " Anyways, they brought him in. He seems to have been beaten, but it's nothing we can't handle. But he's... well, quite frankly he's off his head. I know people can go mad with grief, but this? He's been shouting about "time lords" and being the "last of his kind". We had to sedate him. I thought maybe you could come in, do a checkup, maybe just give him someone to talk to."

"Well that's not exactly protocol, but he sounds like he's in a bad way. Sure, I can come over." _And I'd do anything for you_, she thought, sure she was blushing, even in the dark.

She stumbled into some clothes, dragged a brush through her hair and put on just the little bit of makeup she had time for. She jogged to the kitchen, grabbed her keys and ID, and headed out the door.

When she got to the hospital, doctor Smith was waiting for her.

"Thanks for coming," he said, with a hint of a grin. He could grin even at a time like this. It was amazing. "So we've got him hooked up, we had to do a few minor operations; he'd lost quite a bit of blood from this one nasty laceration..." he continued on, in detail. Rose understood some of it, but she never had to deal with people's physical injuries much, so many of the details were beyond her. She figured Dr. Smith knew this; he was using that tone college boys used when they talked about football.

He finally ended his monologue as they reached a certain nondescript room door. "Well, here we are. Not sure how awake he'll be at this point, but I figure you can't do any harm."

Rose nodded. She took a deep breath, opened the door, and slipped inside.

The man laying on the bed was taller than she expected. He had close-cropped brownish hair. His eyes were wide open, and they were a brilliant blue.

She picked up his chart, which was clipped to the foot of his bed. John Smith. No way. Did anyone name their kid that anymore?

"Hello, Mr. Smith. My name is Rose Tyler. I'm just here to talk to you for a bit. Is that ok?"

John Smith turned towards her. Rose was surprised to see that he was smiling, a strange sort of maniacal grin.

"Hello! I'm the Doctor. Run!"

"I'm sorry?"

"Run!" Despite his strange instructions, he didn't move.

"There's nowhere to run, Mr. Smith."

He didn't respond.

"Mr. Smith? Can you tell me a bit about yourself?"

Still he was silent. Rose wondered if she should leave, but something told her to stay. She settled back in her chair and watched the man. His eyes were still open, and his expression was curiously neutral. As though he was watching a movie, some story she couldn't see.

It had been almost 5 minutes, and Rose was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable. She shifted a bit in her chair, preparing to stand up, when suddenly, Mr. Smith spoke.

"I'm a time lord, Rose. I travel through all of time and space in my time machine, the TARDIS."

Rose was extremely confused. He was obviously answering her earlier question, but none of it made any sense.

He paused for a moment, then took a deep breath and asked "Would you come with me Rose? You could see it all! All of space... and all of time!"

Rose's eyes widened. She was shocked, not least because he had called her by her first name. But she was a psychiatrist, a professional.

"Of course I'll come with you, Mr. Smith." She flashed him a smile. When in doubt, validate the patient.

Mr. Smith grinned again and closed his eyes.

Rose hesitated a moment, then stood up and headed out the door.

Dr Smith was waiting outside.

"How'd it go?"

"Ok, actually. He seems to be present and not present at the same time. It's odd. I don't have a diagnosis yet."

"Well, it's almost morning." Dr. Smith grinned. "D'you want to go get a coffee?"

Rose made a sound that was almost a giggle. "Sure!"

Inside his room, John Smith's smile had disappeared. He lay as he had when Rose came in: facing up, eyes unblinking, mouth a straight line. When he was sure no one could hear his, he whispered a sentence into the still air.

"So alone."


End file.
